At present, in live battlefield military operations in areas such as the Middle East, opposing forces using weapons such as the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) are presenting a significant threat to U.S. military forces stationed there. Estimates by U.S. military officials and others indicate that IEDs are responsible for anywhere from 33% to 80% of the U.S. casualties sustained in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
An IED is a device that is made or used in an improvised manner and can use destructive, noxious, lethal, incendiary, pyrotechnic, or explosive substances to kill, destroy, incapacitate, distract, or harass both people and things. IEDs generally include an explosive charge, a detonator, and an initiation system (which can be electronic or mechanical), put together in such a way that the IED is rigged to explode. Many different devices are used to detonate an IED, often remotely, including items such as mobile phones, doorbells, motion sensors, and other devices capable of generating a signal that can be used as a trigger signal. IEDs are often hidden and/or disguised in order to inflict maximum damage; IEDs can be disguised as anything and hidden virtually anywhere. Because the IED is so simple to use, effective, damaging, and widely available, hostile forces around the world, including many terrorists, insurgents, and guerrilla armies hostile to the U.S. and its allies, have made it one of their key weapons.
Common locations for placing IEDs include locations where they can explode underneath or to the side of a vehicle, such as in or near road signs, mounted on trees, hidden inside bushes, hidden inside boxes or other items placed near a road, and even mounted in or on other vehicles parked near a road or riding on a road. One of the greatest threats IEDs place is to convoys (e.g., of vehicles and/or troops), but IEDs also have been used in enclosed areas.
One way that the U.S. military trains its forces to deal with various military combat situations is using laser-based combat simulation systems. Such laser-based systems have been developed to simulate military combat situations without actually having to fire live ammunition. These systems use relatively low power lasers and matched detectors for indicating when a “hit” has occurred. One such system is the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement Systems, referred to as the MILES system. Military forces in the U.S. and around the world have found MILES to be an important tool to help soldiers and others learn combat survival skills and evaluate battle outcomes, and MILES training has been proven to dramatically increase the combat readiness and fighting effectiveness of military forces.
An illustrative implementation of MILES uses so-called eye-safe “laser bullets,” combined with the use of laser sensitive detectors, to simulate battlefield situations. Each individual and vehicle in the training exercise has a detection system to sense hits and perform casualty assessment. For example, as part of an exemplary MILES event, some soldiers are equipped with one or more laser detectors (e.g., an optical detector) capable of receiving a coded laser signal or pulse that has been fired, and these laser detectors can be attached to the soldier himself to a vehicle the solder is riding on or in, or to any other location proximate to a target of interest. Other soldiers are equipped with laser transmitters capable of “shooting” coded laser signals and/or pulses of infrared energy. These laser transmitters can be readily attached to and detached from any location, person, or thing (e.g., vehicle mounted weapons, hand carried weapons, vehicles, tanks, etc.). In some implementations, one or more of the coded laser signals and/or pulses are modulated to indicate the type of weapon that is the source of the laser beam; and a soldier identification number may also be included in the transmitted signal.
When the laser sensitive detectors receive the coded laser signal/pulse(s), one or more MILES decoders determine whether the target was hit and, if so, whether the “laser bullet” was accurate enough to cause damage (e.g., a casualty). This determination can be made in various ways, such as by whether the coded signals/pulses exceed a threshold, whether the coded signals/pulses actually hit its intended target, and the like. In some implementations, the target (and/or the shooter) can be made aware almost instantly of the accuracy of a simulated shot, such as by audible alarms, visible displays, pyrotechnics, and the like, where these indicators can designate a hit or near miss and also help to provide realism for the soldiers.
In more recent implementations of MILES, all action by shooters and targets (deemed “players”) is recorded during a simulated event, so that a so-called After Action Review (AAR) can occur later, to review the effectiveness of the weapons and/or of the defenses against them. For example, one implementation of AAR allows commanders to process, format and view engagement data collected during an exercise, for review after the exercise. In addition, exercise data can be archived for future use, such as to provide additional training for military forces.
The U.S. military has great interest in training its personnel to deal with military combat situations in which IEDs may be used. However, at present, the ability to train against IEDs is limited. Existing IED training devices, available from Cubic Corporation of San Diego, Calif. and Unitech Corporation of Hampton, Va., can provide audible and/or visible simulation of an IED explosion, but neither can simulate a large explosion pattern, nor can either be used with the MILES training system.